Examining the Use of Social Media in Building a Student Personal Brand and the Impact of Demographics

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Understanding Student Perceptions of their Personal Branding in Higher Education

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Importance-Performance Gap Analysis of the University Brand Equity Dimensions

This study examines the gaps between the importance students place on brand equity dimensions and their perceptions of how well their university performs on each dimension. It also assesses if the brand equity dimensions differ based on student demographics including gender, class level, and their living arrangement. Data were collected from a university in the Midwestern U.S. from undergraduate students. The findings reveal significant gaps between the importance and performance perceptions of students, and that females, students living on campus, and freshman require specia

Examining the Relationships Between Branding Factors and Likelihood of Recommending: Determinants of Net Promoter Score

The study identifies the branding factors related to Net Promoter Score (NPS) that would predict the likelihood of recommending the two strategic business units of the company--convenience store and fuel. It investigates customer perceptions of branding factors of a convenience store/fuel station corporate chain and the relationships among them. The data were collected from the members of the company’s loyalty program. The results reveal that the company has been performing well in branding factors, where the loyalty program is perceived the highest, followed by friendly employees, likelihood to recommend fuel, satisfaction with fuel, and helpful employees. The correlation and regression analyses show that repeat purchase, satisfaction, mindshare, emotional bond are significant predictors of recommending the convenience store and fuel station. The purchase frequency is positively related to NPS. Based on the findings, the study offers effective strategies for building a strong brand

Investigating Consumer Perceptions of Purchase Shares for Private-Label Brands and Demographics: A Study of the Great Value Brand

Over the past several decades, private-label brands have emerged to have a strong presence on retailer shelves around the world, being especially prevalent in Europe (Queck 2009) and also becoming increasingly common in the United States (Gerlock 2013). For both retailers and consumers, the reasons behind the success of private-label brands are quite compelling. For retailers, private-label brands offer better margins than national manufacturer brands, greater negotiating power with manufacturer brands, and higher customer loyalty for the retailer (Ailawadi, Pauwels, & Steenkamp 2008). For consumers, these brands offer high quality at very competitive pricing relative to national manufacturer brands. The value benefit became more apparent with the recent economic downturn and recession, and as a consequence, consumers increased purchases of private-label brands (U.S. Grocery Shoppers 2012). Interestingly enough, consumers are continuing to purchase private-label brands even as the economy has begun to recover (U.S. Grocery Shoppers 2012). Given the importance of the topic, it is imperative to understand how various consumer demographic characteristics may influence the preference and purchase proneness of private-label brands. While a few findings from prior research provide insight, questions still exist about the nature of private-label brand shoppers and the impact of their demographic characteristics on private-label proneness and purchase behaviors. The main goal of this study is to examine the proportion or percent of consumers’ grocery and household spending captured by private-label brands and to determine if this purchase behavior is impacted by consumer demographics. It is expected that consumers who purchase more private-label brands would have more favorable perceptions of quality and value, and be more likely to exhibit higher levels of loyalty for the private-label brands. Therefore, the study examines: (1) the proportion or percent (purchase share) of consumers’ monthly purchases for (a) private-label brands and (b) the Great Value brand of products offered by Wal-Mart; (2) if consumer demographic characteristics influence the purchase shares of (a) the Great Value brand of products and (b) private-label brands in general; and (3) if consumer perceptions of risk, quality, and value, and degree of loyalty differ by their purchase behavior (share) of the Great Value brand, as measured by the proportion of their spending for the Great Value brand. In order to accomplish the objectives of this study, the survey questions used deal with (a) consumers’ purchase shares of private-label brands in general and Great Value branded products in particular, (b) consumer demographic characteristics, and (c) consumers’ perceptions of the Great Value brand in relation to risk, quality, and value, and degree of loyalty. The survey also included demographics questions of gender, age, income, family size, and education. Once the survey questions were developed, we conducted a series of pretests in order to fine-tune and purify them, which provided useful input for improving the survey items and in establishing face validity of the constructs. The finalized survey instrument was administered online to potential Wal-Mart shoppers and purchasers of Great Value products in the U.S. market. Following the procedure used by Bitner, Booms, and Tetreault (1990), an email invitation was sent by undergraduate students to a convenience sample of purchasers of Great Value products. We obtained a total of 367 usable surveys. The results show that 91.6% of the 367 respondents shop at Walmart, and that 82.0% (278) of these individuals are purchasers of the Great Value brand. This finding indicates that private-label brands are becoming an important share of consumers’ grocery and household goods purchases, but it seems the Great Value brand is not doing as well as the private-label brand category overall. The other findings are that: (1) the respondents are regular shoppers of the Great Value brand and also regularly purchase private-label brands at retailers other than Wal-Mart, indicating that private-label brands are becoming an important share of consumers’ grocery and household goods purchases; (2) the consumer demographics of gender, age, family size, education and income did not have any significant effect on consumer purchase behavior for either Great Value or private-label brands in general; (3) consumer perceptions of quality, value, and risk, and degree of loyalty are impacted significantly by consumers’ purchase behavior of the Great Value brand, as measured by Great Value brand share of consumers’ monthly grocery and household good purchases. The findings have important implications for Wal-Mart’s management of the Great Value brand, as well as for the management of other private-label brands

Examining Private-Label Brand Equity Dimensions: Do Brand Equity Dimensions Differ for Different PLBs of the Same Store?

Private-label brands (PLB) today are a well-established facet in many product categories worldwide, and as such have increasingly captured the attention of researchers. Even so, the consumer-based brand equity (CBBE) of PLBs (PL-CBBE) has remained largely unexplored (Cuneo et al 2012). To help fll this void, this study examines the CBBE and its underlying dimensions of two different product category PLBs (Great Value, Equate) of the same retailer (Wal-Mart)

Student Satisfaction with Learning Experience and Its Impact on Likelihood Recommending University: Net Promoter Score Approach

Universities, just like any business, realized the importance and relevance of student satisfaction as well as getting recommended by their students for their long-term success, survival, and growth. This study intends to examine university students’ satisfaction with various aspects of their college learning experience, recommending a university as measured by Net Promoter Score (NPS), and the influence of factors related to student satisfaction on the likelihood of recommending the university. The results of the survey based on 220 responses from current students identify students’ satisfaction with the factors included in the study, where students had the highest satisfaction with feeling support by faculty and staff. The study also found that NPS is -0.40, indicating that students are not likely to recommend this university to HS students, where NPS varied gender, class level, and majors. The regression analysis identified the factors to predict the likelihood of recommending this university. These findings offer some insights for university administrators for designing strategies for improving student satisfaction and getting recommendations